Wednesday, January 27, 2010

I was a little surprised that Waddell stood up and stopped Harding's boys 52-48 at home Tuesday. The Rams came into the game with one loss in the MEGA 7 conference and were probably looking ahead to a first place showdown with conference unbeaten Olympic Friday.

Waddell will be in the 3A playoffs and will be dangerous then. Harding and Olympic will go 4A. That means the Raiders could get a No. 1 seed and a good bracket.

Waddell is 14-4 and won five of its past six games. Coach Oscar Walker's team is 8-0 at home.

Waddell has size in 6-8 Jarvon Pressley and a potential star in 6-6 junior Tony Menton.

-- Ardrey Kell's boys are unbeaten on the road but only 4-4 at home after Tuesday's 46-34 win over Independence. The Knights (13-6, 5-2 Southwestern 4A) have won four straight and trail only East Mecklenburg (11-9, 7-1) in league play.

I watched Tuesday's Independence game and think the Knights can make another deep playoff run, like last year's trip to the state quarterfinals, if they can shore up guard play. Ardrey Kell had all types of problems against pressure defense Tuesday -- and I expect future opponents will use similar tactics, which helps keep the Knights from using their powerhouse inside game with 6-foot-8, 240-pound center Cameron McQueen. McQueen had 15 against Indy Tuesday.

Big game for Ardrey Kell Friday at home with Myers Park (11-7, 5-3). The Mustangs lost to East Mecklenburg Friday and need to win to stay in the conference championship race. A loss will all but do them in. The Knights need to stay within a game of the Eagles.

-- JT Terrell had 36 in West Charlotte's 79-58 win over North Meck Tuesday. The Vikings

-- East Mecklenburg's girls (19-1, 9-0 Southwestern 4A) have won six straight since losing to national power Parkview (GA) in a Christmas Tournament. In that run, the Eagles have held five opponents to 38 points or less. The Eagles, No. 1 in the Sweet 16, play at No. 2 Butler (13-3, 7-1) Friday in the girls game of the year in North Carolina.

Monet Tellier had 19 for the Eagles in Tuesday's 63-49 win over Myers Park.

-- Speaking of Myers Park's girls, the Mustangs (11-7, 3-5) have six losses to East Meck, Butler, Rock Hill Northwestern and Hopewell -- all top 10 Sweet 16 teams and all state powers. The only other team to beat Myers Park this year is Ardrey Kell.

Guess who Myers Park plays Friday? Yep, Ardrey Kell. That's a big barometer game. I'm not saying Myers Park can win a state championship, but if they get into the right playoff bracket, they could get to a regional this season.

-- Friday's Lake Norman at Hopewell boys game matches two of the state's top 3 4A ranked boys teams and the teams ranked 1-2 in the Sweet 16, but the girls game is just as meaningful, at least in the conference championship race.

Hopewell's boys are a game up on Lake Norman in the league standings. And Hopewell's girls (16-2, 7-0) are two games clear of Mallard Creek (11-7, 6-2) and Lake Norman (14-4, 6-2). Lake Norman beat Mallard Creek 75-48 Tuesday, taking a 38-22 lead at halftime.

The Wildcats have won 9 straight games since losing 44-39 to Hopewell at home Dec. 17.

-- Junior Michael Cuthbertson had 14 points to lead first-year Waxhaw Cuthbertson HIgh to its first road win Tuesday. The team beat West Stanly 54-47. Cuthbertson (9-9, 5-5 Rocky River) has won five straight. I can't do the "elevator" in this blog. But they get a big "Up" mark.

-- Another elevator "up" mark goes to Berry girls. Berry won its eighth straight game after holding Unionville Piedmont to four first half field goals in 54-44 Tuesday to take over first place in the Rocky River conference. Essence Jackson had 14 and Milan Quinn 12 for Berry.

-- Former West Charlotte boys coach Gosnell White is working his magic again in Union County. After a subpar start, White's Marvin Ridge Mavericks (7-7, 4-1) have taken over first place in the Southern Carolina conference after Tuesday's 71-56 win over rival Weddington. Marvin Ridge started the season 0-3.

-- After a tough 2-3 start, Concord's girls have won 8 straight, including a win over Concord Robinson Tuesday that ended Robinson's unbeaten dream season.

-- Shelby's boys have won three straight after Tuesday's 54-41 win over Kings Mountain. Zacc Gullatte had 18 for the Golden Lions.

-- Salisbury's boys are 10-4 and 10-2 since the football players joined the team. Junior Darien Rankin is averaging 18 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals. He had 25 against West Rowan and Thomasville last week. He's scored in double figures in 11 of the 12 games he's played.

-- West Caldwell's boys have won 8 straight after Tuesday's 92-45 win over Maiden. Maiden didn't score for more than four minutes in the third quarter. West got 30 points from Kendall Jones, his third 30 point game this season.